Moment of Peace
by sofia313
Summary: She was his best kept secret. Tristan/OC series of one shots
1. Chapter 1

**This is a short one-shot I wrote a while ago.**

* * *

 _Where are you? Why haven't you answered your phone? I need you, brother. Where are you?_

Tristan sighed when he read the text on the screen of his cell. 8 missed calls, few from Aurora, the rest from Aya. For heaven's sake, he had only been away for few hours. Obviously he had a lot of responsibilities as the leader of the Strix, but couldn't he have just few brief moments for himself? He would have wanted nothing more than stay between the peachy satin sheets, but unfortunately that wasn't an option. He got up as carefully as he could and opened the closet in order to find himself some clean clothes.

Most of the clothes didn't belong to him, but he had his small corner. There were few suits and shirts hanging neatly on the hangers and he had a shelf for his socks and boxers. He didn't feel like taking a shower, he wanted to keep her scent on his skin as long as possible, who knew when the next time would be. After choosing one of the suits, he stepped out and started to get dressed. She had a beautiful antique dresser; he looked at his reflection in the mirror while buttoning his shirt. His hair was messy…

"Good morning," a sleepy voice from the bed murmured.

Tristan turned to look at her, she looked beautiful even when her long honey brown hair was messy and her bright green eyes were still sleepy. She was lying on her side, naked under the covers.

"Good morning," he replied.

"Are you going to sneak out without a goodbye?" she scolded.

He smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I wouldn't do such a thing."

She yawned and blinked her eyes.

"What time is it?"

"It's still early, go back to sleep."

She looked at him and pouted her lips.

"Yes, I suppose I have to settle for sleeping since you are going to leave me here all alone."

Tristan leaned towards her and gave her a tender kiss.

"Forgive me, my dearest."

She smiled and nipped his lower lip.

"How could I stay mad at you?"

He ran his finger along the line of her hair.

"Yes, sometimes I'm too charming; it's a problem really…"

She let out a soft laughter and smacked him with a pillow.

"I'll show you charming…"

"Hey!" he protested when she jumped on him and pushed him on his back. He couldn't help but laugh when she captured him under her small frame with a satisfied "Ha!" of triumph.

"I won," she announced and kissed him.

"Yes, you usually do," he replied and enjoyed the beauty of her. If he could only stay right here… She ran her fingers over his cheek and settled onto her back next to him.

"Your sister?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I see."

Tristan bit his bottom lip.

"We have… a complicated relationship."

She smiled.

"Yes, I have sort of figured that out by now."

They both rolled on their side to face each other.

"Thank you for once again listening to my rambling," he said while tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

"My pleasure." She paused and bit her lip before continuing. "When are you coming back?"

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know."

She nodded.

"I understand, just don't forget about me."

"That could never happen," he assured and kissed her hand. "My beautiful angel."

That was truly what she was to him. She offered him a brief moment of peace. During that moment he could forget everything else, he could simply be himself. Only couple of members of the Strix knew about her. Those members were absolutely loyal to him and they guarded her when he was away.

"Tristan?" she murmured. "About your sister… Are you ever going to tell her about us?"

"I would like to," he sighed. "I really would, but Aurora can be a little…unstable."

"I understand, but I'm your wife…"

"Yes," he cut in and kissed her. "And I want to keep you safe. Please trust me on this."

"Fine," she sighed. "We'll keep this a secret then."

"Thank you."

He was just about to kiss her when his phone rang again. He really felt the need to throw his phone out of the window, but he couldn't do that. His moment of peace was over.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"Yeah, I know," she sighed."Just a second…" Her head disappeared under the covers; apparently she was looking for something.

"Found them!" she announced and returned holding her pink lace panties.

"A little souvenir," she said innocently and put the panties into his jacket pocket.

"Thank you, how very kind of you."

He kissed her one more time before reluctantly getting up.

"I'll call you as soon as I can."

She nodded and sent him a flying kiss.

"Be safe."

He allowed himself to look at her for a brief moment before walking to the door. Perhaps marrying her had been a selfish thing to do, but he really didn't care. When he had first seen her, he had immediately known that he wanted her. Courting her hadn't been easy; she had turned him down many times before agreeing to even tell him her name. Stella. His lover and his companion. His best kept secret.


	2. Chapter 2

**I decided to turn this into series of one-shots, not sure if there'll be more.**

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3 months later

Stella woke up when something light and soft touched her shoulder, caressed her neck, wandering slowly towards her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw Tristan leaning towards her; he was touching her with a red rose. For a moment she allowed herself to enjoy his presence, his smile made her feel safe and loved, as naïve as that was. She had never seen herself as a naïve person, but then again she had never thought that she could have this kind of feelings for anyone, especially the leader of the Strix. She herself certainly wasn't sophisticated and she had more than once wondered what Tristan had seen in her. She had always thought that he was one of worst elitists there was, surely "a savage" like her would have repulsed him. That had been what she had thought before he had started to court her.

"This was a nice wakeup call," she murmured.

"I'm glad you think so," he replied and kissed her forehead. "I know you don't like to wake up early, but I was hoping this would help."

She took the rose and inhaled its sweet scent.

"How very clever of you."

He smiled.

"Thank you, I was quite proud of myself."

She laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him next to her.

"You smell nice," she murmured while pressing her cheek against his chest. "Better than the rose."

His chest was rising and falling as he chuckled. That sounded nice, he didn't laugh very often.

"Thank you…I think."

"It was definitely a compliment," she assured and snuggled up against him. "I could get used to this…"

They were quiet for a while, enjoying each others closeness. She was naked under the thin satin cover; she usually enjoyed sleeping without any clothes.

"I'm happy you're here," she murmured.

"Of course," he replied and kissed her forehead. "I wouldn't miss our anniversary."

"Good. Have you had breakfast already?" she asked.

"No, I haven't."

"Alright, I suppose I need to be a good little wife then," she replied and kissed him before jumping gracefully to her feet.

He smiled.

"I was hoping you could be a good little wife in bed…"

Her scowl silenced him.

"Or not…"

She grinned and picked up the red Betty Boop nightie she had tossed on the chair last night before going to sleep. She was feeling surprisingly vivacious and she really wanted to offer him some special breakfast to celebrate their anniversary. She hopped to the kitchen and turned the radio on while opening the freezer and picking up a glass bottle. The red liquid was frozen and unfortunately she had no idea how microwaving it would affect its taste since she never drank frozen blood herself. She put it in the microwave, hoping that it would still be eatable, or drinkable to be exact. Tristan entered the kitchen when she was pouring the red liquid into a big orange Garfield mug.

"What's this?" he asked.

Stella bit her bottom lip and hesitated for a moment before she turned to face him holding the mug in her hands.

"I was restless last night and I thought…It's deer's blood, I don't know if you…"

She looked at him insecurely, hoping that he would say something.

"Well," he started giving her a warm smile. "I've never tasted deer's blood; I believe that would be interesting."

She smiled too, relieved by his reply. She signaled him to take a seat and placed the mug in front of him.

"I'm sorry that it isn't fresh, I had to put it in the freezer…"

"That's not a problem," he assured and took a quick look at the liquid before taking a cautious sip.

She was watching his reaction closely, but he didn't seem repulsed.

"It's not bad," he said and took another sip. "Did you hunt this deer by yourself?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, I love running in the woods naked."

He seemed amused.

"I would very much like to see you hunting."

"Wouldn't that be too uncivilized for you?" she teased smiling.

He smiled too.

"I can be open-minded."

"Really?" she giggled.

"Yes, really. I married you, didn't I?" He paused and kissed her hand. "My fierce little beast."

She smiled and moved to the other side of the table; she felt the need to be closer to him. The moments they shared always felt too short. He took her hand and pulled her onto his lap.

"So… How long can you stay?" she murmured.

"Couple of hours," he replied and wrapped his arms gently around her.

She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder; her body was starting to relax. She wasn't going to complain, she knew that he was doing his best. And she knew how deeply he loved his sister, she wouldn't have asked him to choose between them. Sure she had sometimes wondered would it really be so bad if she would meet Aurora. Wasn't there really any chance they could get along? Oh well, she had known what she had gotten into when she had accepted his proposal.

"Tristan?" she murmured.

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

He tightened his embrace and leaned his cheek on the top of her head.

"I love you too, my sweet Stella. More than you know."


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

Tristan stopped his car and got out before reaching Stella's house. There was woods all around it, she loved it here and despite of his efforts, he hadn't managed to convince her to move into one of his many homes. Unfortunately she was very stubborn. He didn't have to wait for long when one of her bodyguards, a vampire called Theo, appeared from the woods.

"Good evening, sir," Theo greeted him.

"Anything I need to know?" Tristan asked.

Theo hesitated for a very brief moment before replying.

"Yes, sir, I believe so. Mrs. de Martel went to town this morning."

Tristan frowned.

"And?"

"She met someone at the restaurant. If I'm not mistaken, it was Mr. Castle."

Tristan's eyes narrowed.

"I see. Thank you, Theo."

Tristan certainly wasn't in a good mood when he got in the car and started it. Stella knew about her bodyguards even though they kept their distance, so there was no doubt she knew Tristan would hear about her meeting. She wasn't expecting him tonight though; he had wanted to surprise her. First he certainly needed a moment to calm down. He got out of the car and looked at her house. It was a small light green two-storey house with white shutters.

The lawn didn't look well-kept, there weren't any planted flowers, but there were plenty of wild flowers and all kind of ornaments, like strange garden gnomes, some stone trolls and a very decorative bird bath bowl, it was shaped like a shell carried by some kind of fairy. Stella had made them all, she was an artist. There were trees and bushes almost right next to the house and there was a big hammock hanging between two trees. They had spent some very nice moments in that hammock.

Silently Tristan approached the house. Stella hadn't closed the curtains, so it was easy to see inside. There wasn't any specific decoration theme, every single object and furniture was from a different decade and represented different decoration style. They weren't the kind of antique that would be valuable, more like the kind people bought from flea markets. Surprisingly the outcome wasn't distasteful; it made the place unique. Just like her.

He spotted her in the living room; she was listening to some music and dancing. She was wearing one of his shirts. The sight made him smile, he couldn't help it. He zoomed to the backdoor and unlocked it without making a sound. He managed to surprise Stella completely, she gasped when he grabbed her from behind.

"It's me, it's me," Tristan said before Stella bit him.

She turned around and slapped his chest.

"You scared me half to death!"

Tristan chuckled.

"Forgive me, my love."

She glared at him for a second before her eyes softened and her lips curved into a smile.

"Maybe I'll forgive you."

Tristan caressed her lips with his thumb.

"Good."

"I said maybe," she pointed out. "That wasn't a nice thing to do." She paused and twined her arms around the back of his neck, pulling his head down so his lips met hers. "But I'm glad you're home, I've missed you."

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, keeping her close to him. Her beautiful green eyes looked at him warmly. He had most certainly missed her too and the moment would have been perfect if…

"Stella," he stated tensely. "What did you do this morning?"

Her eyebrows furrowed, but she didn't try to pull away.

"Why do you ask when you obviously already know the answer," she replied.

"I want to hear it from you."

Now she pulled away and crossed her arms.

"Fine. I met Lucien."

Tristan gritted his teeth, trying his best to stay calm.

"Why?"

"He wanted to ask my professional opinion about a sculpture he had recently purchased."

"I see. And you couldn't tell him no?"

"I could have, but I didn't want to," Stella replied, her tone of voice was challenging.

Tristan's eyes narrowed.

"Stella…"

"No, " she snapped. "I'm not your property, you don't get to tell me who I can or can't meet."

She turned around and tried to march away, but he zoomed in front of her and blocked her way.

"You are my wife," he snapped.

"Yes and I thought I would have earned your trust by now. Clearly I was wrong."

He pressed his lips together when she marched to the bedroom and slammed the door shut. That had gone well. Damn Lucien… Tristan sighed and went to the bedroom door. He knocked before opening it. Stella was sitting on the bed with her arms crossed.

"Forgive me," he muttered. "It's just… You know how I feel about Lucien and the thing is that you are mine."

She looked up and frowned.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is. You belong to me."

She looked at him for a moment and grinned.

"You have to catch me first, caveman."

He licked his lips, he loved to chase her. No more than a second later she was on her feet, zooming around the room. He was right behind her, but she was very fast, she managed to escape to the living room. She giggled when he finally caught her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. He lifted her up and carried her back to the bedroom bridal style.

"Alright," she hummed as he laid her on the bed. "The big strong hunter caught his helpless prey. What are you going to do to me now?"

He knelt on the bed with one knee and slowly crawled on top of her. They looked at each other for a moment before he spoke.

"I do trust you, my love."

She smiled at him and touched his cheek.

"I trust you too and I have always been loyal to you."

"I know."

She bit her bottom lip before continuing.

"Lucien is my maker and I owe him my life, you know that."

"Yes, I know," Tristan replied tensely.

"But I haven't told him about our marriage and I won't."

Tristan believed her; she knew how to keep a secret. The thought felt very unpleasant to him, a marriage wasn't supposed to be a secret. He wanted everyone to know that she was his wife. If only things wouldn't have been so complicated.


End file.
